Spring is here and with that comes spring cleaning followed by that horrible thought, "where did all this junk come from?" That's a question we can't answer, but we can tell you what to do with it: throw a garage or yard sale. But not any old garage sale is going to move that box full of RCA cables. You need to throw the best garage sale you can. Here's how to do it.

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If you live on a street that gets a lot of foot traffic you can pretty much throw your stuff onto the corner and call it a day, but if you don't have that luxury you need to plan a little bit ahead of time. So, before we get into how to actually throw your garage sale, we have to advertise it as best as possible.

Advertise in Every Way You Can Imagine

If Mad Men has taught us anything, it's that a good ad campaign can sell anything. Take that same idea into account when planning your yard sale. Think about your ideal customer and coordinate your mini-campaign around them. Are you selling a bunch of geek-friendly electronics or books? Mention that in the advertisement. Dumping a ton of art? Make sure your posters are artsy so people know that your garage sale is the best garage sale for cool art. Knowing what to put on the ads is just the first part—knowing where to put them is an art onto itself. Here's a step by step guide:

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Put posters everywhere: Put posters up in your neighborhood, at community centers, and local shops. Basically, anywhere you possibly can. If you're near a college, go to the college and put up signs there. When you're making signs, make sure you put up a few windproof ones so people don't go wandering down the wrong street after a gust of wind pushes your sign a block away.

Advertise online: Put a posting on Craigslist, eBayClassifieds, and YardSaleSearch. Don't just post "Cool furniture." The more descriptive you are of your actual merchandise the better chances you have to reel people in. Have an antique Herman Miller chair? Mention that—even it's beaten up and covered in a thick layer of cat hair. The point is to get the right "type" of person to take an interest. Garage sale-aficionados will come regardless of what you have, you need to worry getting the people who actually want the stuff in your yard.

Mention snacks: The promise of snacks can draw pretty much anyone to anything. The only rule here is that whatever you're giving away, make sure it isn't homemade unless you have a particularly trustworthy look about you. While some people are totally fine with taking food from strangers, you're better off just throwing out a cooler with some sodas and ice cream pops.

Include all the details: Finally, make sure to include your full address, time of the sale, and the date (Don't write "today." That means nothing to a random passerby. Fridays and Saturdays are supposedly the best) of the sale. Give it a few days to seep in, if you're throwing the garage sale this Friday, put up posters on Tuesday or Wednesday. Photo by Steven Cateris.

Plan and Optimize Your Display Options

You don't walk into a store and find a pack of toddler's t-shirts right next to the vacuums, so why would you lay out your garage sale like that? Instead of just tossing everything on your lawn in a pile and calling it day, it's best to plan ahead. In most cases, your best bet is to set up all your items exactly like you would find them at a department store.

That means group like-minded items together and keep completely different items apart. If you're off-loading your media collection after going digital, put all your books, games, and movies together on a table. Price everything on that table the same (don't go mixing things up because you know that Akira DVD is worth more than that copy of National Lampoon's Vacation). Don't hit up a lot of garage sales? There's a pretty set standard for pricing.

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Put things like clothes or random household goods as far away from the media as possible. Nobody wants to dig through your collection of science-fiction novels while getting bopped in the head with dresses.

As far as actually displaying your items is concerned, consider this a chance to show off your best merchandise. If you have an awesome couch, put it in the most visible spot as possible. If you have hundreds of DVDs, make sure they're arranged in a way people can find them. Place clothes on hangers and hang a string up so people can flip through them. Make it easy for people to scope out what you have from their car so they can decide if it's worth stopping by.

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Finally, if you're selling electronics, set up a testing area for everything. Sure, you're aware that old receiver works just fine, but your customer doesn't. Run an extension cord out of the house, place all the electronics together, and let people test them out on their own.

The basic idea is to make an appealing shopping experience for whoever stops by. Some people love the idea of scavenging through endless piles of junk, but most people would rather pop in, gauge their interest quickly, and decide if it's worth their time. Make things easier for them by displaying all your sale items in a way that makes sense and looks good. Photo by John Manoogian III.

Be Prepared to Haggle and Accept All Types of Payments

You will not make a ton of money from your garage sale and people will haggle you down from 50¢ if they think it's unfair. Be prepared to haggle and provide counter offers. Instead of taking a quarter for a 50¢ book, suggest they can have two books for that same 50¢. It can get pretty silly at times, but the more flexible you are the better chance you have of selling off all your stuff.

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On that same note, make sure you have a ton of change on hand. Cash is great, but you need coins too. This is especially the case if you're doing your sale on a Sunday when the banks are closed.

If you want to go for a true high-tech upgrade, accept credit cards. You can do this with a service like Square on your iPhone or Android, or the recently launched Paypal Here. Both services take 2.7% of the transaction, so you might want to limit credit card purchases to sales $5 and up to make it worthwhile. Most yard sale scavengers won't need the credit card option, but others might, especially if you're selling off items worth more than $20. Photo by BarGal.

Have Fun

This might sound like obvious advice, but it's absolutely true. When you're sitting around being bored on your lawn you end up looking like a weirdo surrounded with junk. Grab a friend to help you out, bring a book, play some music—do anything you can to make yourself look like you're not annoyed at the fact you're sitting outside in the sun all day. The happier and nicer you look, the more likely it is people will stick around.

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Have some tips of your own for making a garage sale the best it can be? Share them in the comments.